The rugged looking crossover is smaller than an A3 Sportback and weighs just 1205kg. It comes with a choice of six drivetrains and optional quattro four-wheel drive. Audi says the new model has been built to cater for the demands of young, urban drivers, and hopes it will draw new buyers to the brand. As such, it gets a distinctive exterior that introduces several new design traits.
At the front there’s a new single-frame grille with polygon details, and the headlights are slightly more squared off than those of recent Audi models. Further back there’s an R8-style blade on the C-pillar, and the taillights premiere a new design with Audi’s latest swooping indicators.
The car’s overall shape is distinctive in Audi’s line-up, largely due to its taut proportions, but also thanks to a hunched shoulder-line that features a unique sliced section. Designers say this polygon slice helps to give the jacked-up model a squatter stance, aided by a slim glasshouse that mimics the silhouette of a lower car.
Function follows form because the new Q2 benefits from a raft of practicality-boosting features. Audi claims that the car’s crossover roofline means interior headroom is more generous than an A3’s, and clever packaging enables the boot to swallow 405 litres of luggage. Optional 40:20:40 folding rear seats increase flexibility for storage, while also enabling that maximum volume to grow to 1050 litres.
Designers have deliberately given the bootlid a wide opening for easy access, and the tailgate can be powered.
The car comes as a five-door, five-seater only, with front-wheel-drive the default set-up. At launch, three TFSI and three TDI engines are offered, ranging from 1.0 to 2.0-litre capacities.
The entry 1.0-litre three-cylinder TFSI is borrowed from the A1 and produces a peak output of 114bhp in the Q2. Economy figures are yet to be revealed, but we expect it to offer close to 50mpg combined. Above this, Audi’s 1.4-litre TFSI comes with cylinder-on-demand technology, while the most potent petrol is a 2.0-litre TFSI that produces 187bhp.
The diesel range starts with a 114bhp 1.6-litre TDI, that’s joined by a 2.0-litre TDI in two states of tune – 148bhp and 187bhp. Again, economy figures are yet to be revealed, but we expect and average of 70mpg to be possible from the most efficient diesel unit.
As standard, the new car comes with a six-speed manual gearbox, but an S tronic dual-clutch ’box is offered as an option. 2.0-litre petrol and diesel models come exclusively with this transmission, which Audi says uses a new type of low-friction oil supply.
Drive is sent to the front wheels but buyers can opt for quattro four-wheel-drive, which comes as standard with the range-topping 2.0-litre engines. The system uses Haldex-clutch technology to enable torque vectoring and decoupling.